


Farstrider

by wrennette



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, M/M, Medicinal Drug Use, Nuclear Holocaust, archiving old words, canon typical cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 14:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4750274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrennette/pseuds/wrennette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Lee "Apollo" Adama is the one sent after Apollo's Arrow on Caprica after his father is shot. A drabble series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 01 - 05

**Author's Note:**

> Archiving from LJ. Originally posted there in 2008.
> 
> I don't own BSG, I don't make any money doing this, and the intention is to amuse, not offend.
> 
> Original AN: AU. Unbeta-ed. Jumps from person to person, not always with any indication of who the main character is. I started this drabble series to combat writers block on other fics, and it just keeps growing. I'll post what I have now in five drabble increments over the next few days.

(01)  
Helo paused, panting heavily. Things had not gone well, not in the least, since he had made the decision to give up his seat on the Raptor. He could feel the nausea of radiation sickness twisting in his gut, and he only had a week of anti-radiation medicine left. He had to get back into Caprica City. It might be the most dangerous, most Cylon infested place on the planet, but he needed food, medicine. With a deep sigh, he slung his pack over his shoulder again and forced himself to start walking.

 

(02)  
The Eight cocked her head, watching him through the trees. This man loved her sister - the sleeper agent called Sharon Valerii. His defenses were low, weakened with isolation and sickness. He would not question her sudden appearance. She frowned a bit with displeasure as she reviewed her mission. This sort of seduction and infiltration thing was usually done by Six. The model was built for that purpose. But the human had a link to the model Eight, and so she was being sent in. It was an honor to be chosen from among all the other Eights for this task, but she still didn't much like it.

 

(03)  
Run, shift, hide had become the fullness of their existence. "Sharon" knew but could not share that they would not be killed, understood that they were being herded. It was all part of the plan after all. That didn't meant she liked it any better than Helo though. There were simply too many variables where this plan could fail. She would much rather be with her sisters, listening to music, practicing the forms of her meditation-dance. But she was here, in the outskirts of Caprica City, with a human as her companion, and a dying human at that.

 

(04)  
He was afraid at first, that their desperate lovemaking had been a dream. He had dreamed of such things often since first meeting her. But she was curled warm and soft in his arms, her skin so smooth and silky it seemed unreal. They kissed when she woke, and despite his best intentions of pushing on today, finding food and medicine, he couldn't resist the temptation she presented. It didn't help his reserve that she was warm and soft and willing, and so this time, he took her slowly, loving her the only way she would allow.

 

(05)  
Being the CAG meant no one asked Lee where he was going with Kara's stolen Raider. They just figured that if he was touching her toy, he had her permission, or it was orders. After all, he was an Adama, and people assumed certain things about him because of that. They assumed he did what he was told, that he never questioned his father's authority. They assumed he knew everything about what happened on board the Galactica. They assumed his father was his hero. He smiled wryly to himself. His father was no hero. His father was a liar - one of the best, but still a damn liar.


	2. 06 - 10

(06)  
The chevrons on his collar meant the man was a Captain, but Helo didn't really notice that. His attention was on Boomer, on trying to hold the crimson blood inside her, willing her to live. It didn't work though. The man in the flight suit had shot her straight through the heart, and no one could survive that. When the smaller pilot pulled Helo off, the injured man attacked with the strength of fury and desperation. By the time he collapsed to his knees, he was sobbing and babbling, slamming his fists futilely against the chest of the smaller pilot. That was when he noticed the man was a Captain.

 

(07)  
It took Apollo a few tries to make the tall pilot understand. By then though, they were close enough to Caprica City that he could point out others as examples. Boomer was a Cylon. She had shot the Admiral. This was just another copy, trying to gain his trust for some other purpose. The knowledge made Helo sick. Or it could have been radiation sickness. Either way, Helo was in pretty bad shape. Bad enough shape that the only help he could afford Apollo was as a lookout. He felt pretty useless at first. That was before he shot himself a few Cylons though, one of them wearing Sharon's face. But then Apollo charged out with the Arrow of his patron deity, and they were making for the hills. Helo told him of the survivors who had been left behind, but Apollo had one mission, to bring back the Arrow.

 

(08)  
Kara "Starbuck" Thrace waited with signature impatience as the Raider - Her Raider - was lowered to the hangar deck. It was hard enough to believe that perfect Lee Adama had committed mutiny and gone AWOL. It was even harder to believe he had done so by stealing her captured Cylon Raider. She was in no way surprised however, that he had managed to complete the mission he had been sent on by the President. Kara grinned a bit to herself. The President, who was currently in Galactica's brig, tripping on Chamalla. 

 

(09)  
It had been a lot to ask, she knew that. But she also knew that Lee was the perfect candidate for this mission. Not only did he trust her, he also knew the Commander, and knew that the Commander had no idea how to get to Earth. Not only that, but the clean cut young Major was completely above suspicion. In a way, all of that made it even harder for her to ask him to take the mission. Oh, he had been perfect for it, but that's part of what made her regret it. Laura sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes. Her whole body hurt. The sound of the outer hatch opening made her straighten her spine. She was the only prisoner in this block. Someone was coming to visit.

 

(10)  
Lee paced his cell like one of the hunting cats in the zoo back on Caprica. He was not a man meant for inactivity. The outer hatch opened, and his head snapped up to look. He was expecting anyone but the tall pilot he had come to depend upon on Caprica. Helo. He thought back, remembering all he could about the younger man. The same age as Starbuck, the two of them were close, had gone through much of their training together. Helo had been tricked by one of the Cylons, the Sharon Valerii model, had fallen for the toaster. Lee watched with hooded eyes as the taller man strode purposefully to the metal mesh covered opening. Helo stood there, watching him evenly, and slowly, drawn like iron to lodestone, Apollo went to him.


	3. 11 - 15

(11)  
"Thanks," Helo said with a wry little smile, and Apollo raised an eyebrow at him. 

"For..." he asked leadingly after a drawn out pause, not sure what he had ever done for the younger pilot. 

"For bringing me home," Helo replied, as if Lee were either slow or stupid, or maybe both. Apollo shrugged and returned the wry little smile. 

"We don't leave our men behind," he said after a moment, voice softer and more tender than he had meant it to be, almost wistful. Helo tried to smile, but it looked like a grimace, because they were both thinking about the survivors of the holocaust back on Caprica, who had been left behind, who would die there, killed quickly by the Cylons or more slowly by radiation, starvation and disease.

 

(12)  
Laura watched the two young men through slitted eyes. She had come to know Lee quite well over the past few days. There was nothing for either of them to do but talk to one another and pace. Now, she saw the way Lee glanced up at the taller man through his lashes, saw the tension in Lee's muscular shoulders. The young officer was chafing at his captivity, that accounted for some of the tension. But Laura was certain there was more to it than that. She wracked her mind, trying to remember the taller man. He had a familiarity about him, but mostly because the only distinguishing characteristic to his person was his height. He was pale skinned, probably a Caprican, muscular, clean shaven with short brown hair. He had a military bearing, was perhaps a man who had flown with Lee before, and was bringing him news from the rest of the ship. But there was a sort of sickliness to him well, and a deep sadness that baffled Laura. He reminded her too much of herself, of the cancer that raged in her body and sapped the strength from her limbs.

 

(13)  
"So who is he?" Came a soft voice after lights out, and Lee started in surprise. He had assumed the President asleep, as she so frequently was. He sat, then stood, going to the caging between their cells. 

"His name is Karl Agathon," he said softly, letting himself down to sit on the floor. "Helo. A Raptor flying officer. He was left behind, on Caprica. He's the one who gave up his seat for Dr. Baltar. He - he saved my life down there, and somehow he feels like he owes me." Lee smiled wryly in the dark, baffled still by Helo's sincere gratitude. He knew that the chances were pretty good that if Helo had managed to survive the radiation poisoning down on Caprica, the Cylons would get him. But the honesty in Helo's eyes, the heartfelt admiration of the younger man, it was a hard thing to see. Especially knowing that if he hadn't happened across Helo, he never would have sought him or any of the other survivors out, never would have tried to save a single one of them. 

"You want to go back," the President's voice said softly in the darkness, and Lee had to laugh softly. 

"With all my heart," he finally answered, but the other cell was silent. The President had drifted off to sleep.

 

(14)  
Kara leaned against the hatch for a long moment, watching him. He was still underweight, leaner than she remembered. His face was shadowed with fatigue and hollow with hunger and sickness. His eyes, that had once been so cheery, were flat and dull with ghosts and memories. 

"Want a spotter?" She asked, unable to bear the stillness, and Helo looked up sharply, wariness making his features a mask of danger.

"Hey Kara," he said tiredly, expression warming, and she forced a smile, hardly able to bear the wear in his voice. "That would be great," he said, mopping his face with the towel in his large, capable hands, than racking some more weight onto the bar and laying back down on the bench. "Gotta get back in flying shape," he said with an attempt at a joking smile. "Someone's gotta watch your six out there." She returned the smile tightly and stood at the head of the bench, hands beneath the bar in case his grip failed or his arms gave out under the weight. An hour went by in silence, lifting and spotting in turn, then breaking out the sparring mitts and taping their knuckles. She bested him quickly, and she hated how weak he was, this mountain of a man who had been her best friend nearly as long as she could remember.

 

(15)  
Helo paused, one hand against the steel framework of the Battlestar as he doubled over, chest heaving. He was still so weak, constantly short of breath as he fought to join the ranks of pilots on the Galactica. He had been aboard for a ship's month now, and was only just getting his strength back. He hated it, hated how the radiation had sapped him, hated that he hadn't been able to save anyone else down there. He could still see their faces in his mind, especially the others who had been fighters. He pushed away thoughts of Sam Anders, his clear blue eyes and shaggy dark hair, his trim, muscular build and sardonic sense of humor. He never would have expected the superstar athlete to be one of his better friends, but when he and Sharon - he shook his head to clear it, then straightened up and began to jog again. He still couldn't think of her without the conflicting anger and sadness welling up in his chest. Thinking of Anders and the other resistance fighters didn't help his mood either, and so he stopped thinking, and just ran.


	4. 16 - 21

(16)  
Laura and Lee both looked up as the hatch opened. Lee had pulled his rack over to the end of his cell nearest the President's, so they could both be comfortable during one of their long, quiet chats. It was the Gunny and a few of her Marines, and she smiled slightly at the two of them. She seemed to view them as visitors rather than prisoners, and neither prisoner really minded the Marines. They were just bored to tears. 

"Time's up Madame President," the Gunny said, and Laura traded a look with Lee, than slowly stood. They opened her cell, and Lee stood as well, watching her slowly walk away, back held ramrod straight until the hatch slammed behind her and the Marine escort, hiding her from view. For the next three ship's days, Lee again paced like a caged animal. He had kept up with pushups, sit ups, even done jumping jacks and scoped out a bar in the ceiling that he could do pull ups on. But sculpting his already firm body hadn't really done anything to lessen the boredom, and now he didn't even have Laura Roslin to talk to. 

 

(17)  
She watched him sleeping, the words of the Marine on duty coming back to her. 

"He'll go mad in there alone," the Marine had said. "He's always moving, always pacing. He isn't made to be shut up like this." Even in repose he wasn't still, twitching in his sleep, shifting as he dreamed. 

"Lee," she said softly, and he shifted slightly, but didn't come awake. "Lee," she said more strongly, and he shifted again, tanks riding up to expose his washboard abs. His eyes fluttered and than, in an instant, he was awake. His eyes were pale and glittering in the low light, and they pinned her immediately. He was on his feet quickly, coming to attention. 

"Mad-" he started, and she shook her head with a wry little smile. 

"I have a mission for you Apollo," she said, more softly again, and he trotted over, sliding his arms into the sleeves of his flight suit. "You can fly a Raptor as good as you handle a Viper or that Raider?" She asked, and he hesitated a moment, then nodded. "The Commander has authorized a mission to rescue any remaining survivors from Caprica. You'll pilot the lead Raptor with Lt. Agathon as your ECO." He blinked once, then nodded. She smiled and stepped back, giving the Marines escorting her room to unlock the cell door.

 

(18)  
"Helo," the man asked gruffly, and Helo nodded, then stiffened slightly as he was pulled down for a rough, almost desperate kiss. 

"I came back for you Sam," he said softly, voice coming out strained, and he held onto the other man for a long moment, able to feel every bone in the athlete's spare frame. Helo pulled back, looked over at Apollo, whose face was, as ever, unreadable. "Sam Anders, leader of the resistance," he elucidated, and the shorter man nodded, then turned his flat gaze on Anders. 

"You can get in touch with the other survivors? We have Raptors a jump away awaiting instructions for an evac." Sam's face lit with pure joy, and within a few hours they had a plan of action. The survivors soon began making their way to rendezvous points over the next few hours, and by the time darkness fell, everything was in place. Once the sun was down, the previously out of range Raptors jumped into orbit and began making rapid descents through the atmosphere. By the time they were on the ground, Raiders had been launched by the Cylons encamped in Caprica City. As soon as the survivors were aboard, the Raptors took to the sky, missiles armed and ready. Those without passengers acted as both rear and advance guards, the loaded Raptors heading toward the city to carpet bomb. 

 

(19)  
Once again Kara found herself pacing the flight deck of Galactica, warring anger and fear roiling in her gut. Her two best friends in the Colonies were three hours overdue for a check in. As acting CAG in Lee's absence, she couldn't even shirk her duties to go get obliterated. A few mugs of ambrosia would quiet her anxiety, but at the moment, this deck was her responsibility, and she wouldn't do anything to let the Old Man down. He had enough to worry about without her adding to the troubles. So she paced, and finally, hours after she began wearing out her shoes on the steel decking, the klaxons blared. Birds were on the ground. 

Her anxiety wouldn't cease until she actually had all her pilots in and accounted for though, and that especially counted for Lee and Karl. It took a while for the Raptors to come down on the lifts, but soon enough all the birds were accounted for, and survivors were being disgorged at a rather alarming rate. They had left a distressingly large number of people behind, she realized, and she began to understand why Karl's eyes had looked so haunted. Finally though, the last bird was on the deck, the hatch open, and Karl was leading the refugees out of the Raptor, arm around the waist of a tall dark haired man. The height alone told Kara it wasn't Lee, and she looked past them to see the compact young officer watching Karl like a hawk.

 

(20)  
He looked at the two young men standing before him, professionally hiding his surging pride. His son, while proving to be a bit more of a loose cannon than he would have anticipated, had done the right thing, and done it well. He had known the moment he looked in Lee's eyes after his return from Caprica with the Arrow that his boy wanted to go back, couldn't stand the idea of leaving their people behind, not a one. The quiet strength of Lt. Agathon had only seemed to make Lee more determined, and he glanced over at the newly reinstated ECO. 

Helo was a helluva guy to have on your side. Strength, endurance, and an incredible will to survive. Helo was also the best friend of his surrogate daughter, and he knew that Kara had been impossible to be around while Lee and Agathon were on their mission back to Caprica. Now though, with them back, maybe things would begin to go their way. He fought a smile at that, saluting the two young men. They returned the salute, remaining at attention, and he kept biting the inside of his lip to keep from smiling, because Kara was just beyond them, her grin twisting the corners of her mouth even as she stood at perfect attention and saluted. 

"Sitrep," he asked gruffly as he saluted, and she saluted back, mouth finishing it's curl up into a smile. 

"All Raptors present and accounted for," she said, and he nodded, letting the tiniest hint of his pride shine through.

 

(21)  
Sam watched the three of them together. They fit. He wasn't sure how they fit, but they did. Helo and Starbuck were obviously like brother and sister, but how Apollo fit into the mix was harder to figure. He was obviously liked and trusted by both of them, joking with Starbuck and sparring with Helo. But he still couldn't quite figure how it worked. At times he was almost certain that Starbuck and Apollo were frakking, leaving Helo as odd man out. But than he would catch a too long glance between the two men, and it would throw that theory entirely out of whack. The oddest part was, none of them seemed at all jealous of each other. 

He didn't really know anything about either Apollo or Starbuck, but they both seemed cocky, like they were used to being the best, being the center of attention. Yet neither of their egos seemed to threaten their friendship, or whatever was going on between them and Helo. Which perplexed Sam to no small degree. He knew from the start that he had no claim on Helo, all they had ever shared was a few long glances and that one kiss back on Caprica. Slowly he eased into the room, and suddenly the dynamic changed. Whatever was going on, he obviously wasn't part of it, and wasn't wanted. He nodded in greeting and went to the free weights, and the next time he glanced up, they seemed to have forgotten he was there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original End Note: You get a bonus drabble in this batch, because this is as far as I've written, and I didn't want it to be lonely. We'll see when the muse strikes next.


End file.
